BishopAccountability.org
	Diocese's Silence Doesn't Benefit the Flock By Michael Miller Peoria Journal-Star October 20, 2007 http://www.pjstar.com/stories/102007/MIC_BELJQQQ3.040.php The silence coming from 607 NE Madison Ave., Peoria, is nearly as deafening as the bells that ring on Sundays next door at St. Mary's Cathedral. Catholic Diocese of Peoria press releases are almost nonexistent these days. That wouldn't be a big deal if things weren't going on, but they are. We used to cover some diocesan events when we knew about them. At the least, we could let you know about them. Lately, nobody's telling us about them. Last week, I asked diocesan director of communications Elizabeth Smarjesse why the diocese doesn't send out press releases much anymore. There was no response. This is just one example of an occasional but confounding lack of communications by the diocese. In the past two years, for instance, the diocese also has only intermittently agreed to allow Journal Star reporters to interview its personnel, even for innocuous features. Contact with Bishop Daniel Jenky himself has been nearly impossible. Why? Possibly because of what the diocese called in one statement "negative" and "unfair" coverage, though it didn't go into any specifics. I called a few others in the news media who cover the diocese to see if they had noticed the institution's subterranean profile. Generally they said they weren't having that many problems. Jim Garrott, news director at WEEK-TV, said a decrease in press releases appeared to be cyclical. Jonathan Ahl, news director at WCBU-FM, said diocesan communications were "so-so," but also said officials were "responsive." Reporter Leon Lagerstam at the Dispatch/Argus in the Quad Cities has had much the same experiences I've had, though. "If it weren't for (vicar general) Monsignor (Paul) Showalter, I'd have no luck at all when it comes to communicating with the diocese," Lagerstam said. "He's been my sole reprieve when needing something." It's not just the media getting the cold shoulder from the diocese, though. Some victims of clergy sexual abuse, especially those representing the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, haven't been able to get a response from Jenky to their entreaties. A rare communication by the diocese last spring and a recent sermon by Jenky, though, may offer an insight into the institution's attitude. After the diocese denied me an interview with Jenky for a story on his first five years as bishop here, a statement was issued that said, "The bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria will continue to reserve the right to communicate with his own flock and with neighbors of good will in a manner that he deems appropriate." Jenky recently continued the theme of communicating with "his own flock" in a sermon at an Erin Feis Mass in late August. "Now, our local press has sometimes complained about the pronouncements of the One, Holy, Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church, and they even sometimes comment on the preaching at Mass of your Bishop, even though my words are really only directed to you, the members of my own flock, entrusted to my care, through the grace of God and the favor of the Apostolic See," he said according to the text of the sermon in the Sept. 2 issue of The Catholic Post. Jenky's words may be "only directed" to Catholics, but they are sometimes heard by others through the Post or when we are able to cover a diocesan event. What Dan Jenky says is news. After all, he is leader of the largest religious group in central Illinois. What that institution and its leadership does has an influence on this area. In the media, we try to cover that influence and sometimes ask challenging questions and write about unpleasant things. It may seem unfair that we do so, but I don't know of any religious group that's completely happy with how it's covered in the news media. With a group as large as the Catholic Diocese of Peoria, there's going to be some negative, but we also have covered much that is positive. Trying to keep a below-the-horizon profile is, I realize, one way to respond to negative press, but the community is the poorer for it when the media aren't notified of diocesan events, when diocesan experts are barred by leadership from speaking to the press and when the leadership itself goes silent. MICHAEL MILLER covers religion for the Journal Star. Write to him in care of the Journal Star, 1 News Plaza, Peoria, IL 61643, call him at 686-3106, or send e-mail to mmiller@pjstar.com.
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